The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-01-07

AMI from grot:o to garden. Ceno. the IA
, nous Spanish artist, is di3yr5t,d with the
cruciiix that the priest holds before him
because it Is such poor specimen of cult
urc. Aud 50, sometimes through taste and
, sometimes through lelrnei menace, and
sometimes thronga physical dstress-aye,
In ten thousand wdys-trouble CONES to
harass and annoy.
And yet it is unfair 20 measure mans life
by his misfortunes, because where there is
one stalk ofni-ht-shaie tn ere are fifty mari
Colds and h1rebslls; where thcrs il one
cloud thunier charged there ere hundreds
that stray a ross the heavens, the glory Of
land aud sky asleep in their bosom. Be
cause death came ana took your child as7ay,
did you Immediately forget all the five
years, or the ten years, or the fifteen years
in which she came every night with kiss,
all the tones of your heart pealng forth az
the sound of her Voice or the soft touch OF
her hand. Because in some financial Eu-
rccelydol your fortune went into the break
ers, did you forget all those years in which
the Injuries and extrayagances of life
siowered on your pathway. Alas. that is
an unwise man, an unphilosopnic man, and,
most of all, an unchristian man who meas
ures his life on earth by groaus and tears,
and dyspeptic fit ana abuse, and scorn, and
neuralgia thrust.
Again, 1 remark that there are many peo-
PIE who estimate their life on earth by the
amount OF money they have accumulated.
Tncy say: ''The year 1856, or 1875, or 1886
was wasted" Whyl Made no money.
Now, it is ali can't and insincerity to talk
against money as though it had no valac.
1t is retinem ent, and education, and ten
thousand blessed surroundings; it is the
I I Of h, fakl 10 hat lie oh
dren's hunger; it is the lighting of the fur
mace that keeps you warm; it is the MAX
ing OF the bed on which You rest from care
and anxiety; it is the carrying out at last
OF you to decent sepulture. and the put
ting up of the slab, on wlichss chiselei the
story of your Christian hope 1t is simply
hypocrisy, this TRADE. IN pulpit and lecture
hall, against money, as though it had no
uses. 1t is hands, and feet, and sails, and
ten thousand grand and glorious enter
prises.
But while all this is SO, he who uses
money, or thinks of money as any thing but
a means to an end, Will find oat his mis-
take when the glitteriag treasures Slip out
of his nerveless grasp. and he goes out of
this world without a shilling of money or a
certificate of stock. He might better have
been the Christian porter that opened his
| gate, or the begrimed workman who last
night heaved coal into his cellar. Bonds
and mortgages and leases have their use,
but they make poor yard stick with which
to measure life. They that boast them
selves of their wealth, and trust on the
multitude of their riches, none of them can
| By any means redeem his brother, nor give
! to God ransom for him, that he should
not see corruption. "Wise men die, like
wise the fool and the british person per.
/ ish. and leave their wealth to Others"
| But there are many-ani I wish there
We're more-who estimate their life by their
moral and spiritual development. 1t is not
sinful egotism for Christian man to say:
81 am purer than used to be-" There is
no sinful egotism in that. II is not base
egotism for soldier to say: Il know mora
, about military tactics than used to before
| / took q musket in my hand, and learned to
present arms and when was a pest to
the drilling officer" Il is not base egotism
| for sailor to say: 81 know better how to
clew down the mizzen top-sail than 1 used
to before l had ever seen ship" And
there is no sinful eSotism when a Christian
man, fighting the battles Of the Lord, or il
you will have it. voyaging towards a
heaven of eternal rest, says: Il know
more about spiritual tactics and about voy-
aging towards Heaven than used tor
Why, there are those in this presence
who have measured lances with many foe,
and unhorsea Il. There are Christian men
here, who have become swarthy by ham
me-ing at the forge of calamity They
stand on an entirely different plane OF
character from tina; which they once occu-
pied. They are measuring their life on
earth by goiden-gated Sabbaths, by pentc-
costal PRAYER meetings, by communion
tables, by baptismal fonts, by hallelujiahs in
the temple. They have stood on Sinai and
heard it thunder; they have stood on Pts
gah and looked over into the Promised
Land; they have stood on Calvary and
seen the cross bleed. They can, like Paul
tine Apostle, write on their heaviest trou-
bles slight and ''but for a moment The
darkest night their soul is irradiated. as
was the night over Bethlehem, By the
glory and good cheer. They are only wait
ing for the gate to open, and the chains to
fall off, and the glory to begin.
remark again: There ere maryland
wish there We're more-who are estimating
life by the amount of good they can do. |
John Bradford said he counted that day
nothing at all in which he had not, by pen I,
or tongue, done some good. II q man be- |
gin right, can not tell how many tears he |
may wipe away, how many burdens he |
may lift, how many orphans he may COM |
fort, how many outcasts he may reclaim. !
There have been men who have given their |
whole life in the right direction, concen-
trating all their wit and ingenuity, and |
mental acumen, and physical force, and |
enthusiasm, for Christ. They climbed the I
mountain, and delved into the mine, and !
crossed the sea, and trudged the desert,
and dropped at last into martyrs graves,
waiting for the resurrection of the lust. |
They measured their lives by the chains |
they broke of, by the garments they put |
upon nakedness, by the miles they travelled |
to alleviate every kind Of suffering. They
felt in the thrill Of every nerve.
in the motion Of every muscle, in
every throb of their heart in every
respiration Of their lungs, the magnificent
truth: NO man liveth for himself" They
went through cold and through heat, foot
blistered, cheek smitten, back scourged,
tempest dashed, to do their whole duty.
That is the way they measured ife-by the
amount of good they could do. Do you
want to know how old Luther was; how
old Richard Baxter was; how old Philip
Doddridge vast Why, you can not calcu-
late their lives by any human arithmetic
Add to their lives ten thousand times ten
years and you have not expressed
they have lived or will live. o,
what standard that is to measure q mans
life by! There are those in this house who
think they have lived only thirty years.
They will have lived thousand-they
have lived q thousand. There are those
who think they are eighty years of age.
They have not even entered upon their in
fancy, for one must become babe in
Christ to begin at all.
Now, I do not know what your advan-
tages or disadvantages are-I do not know
Hy-h2f - faln Il do